The Card
by patricia51
Summary: Maya is bending all her efforts into making the perfect greeting card. Set about a year after "Girl Meets Hurricane" just in time for a certain June holiday.


The Card by patricia511

(Maya is bending all her efforts into making the perfect greeting card. Set about a year after "Girl Meets Hurricane" just in time for a certain June holiday.)

With the tip of her tongue just sticking out in concentration Maya stared at her drawing. She picked up a colored pencil, laid it down and selected another one. Looking at it she smiled.

"Bless you Mister Matthews. And thank you."

Her concentration became fierce as she started to draw again. Minutes passed. Finally the blonde teen leaned back, picked up the drawing and nodded in satisfaction. She laid it back down and opened the folded letter sized card. She picked up her pen, tapped the end on her teeth for a moment and started to write.

As she wrote she started to do something that no one, including Riley would have ever believed not that long ago. She started humming to herself.

Dear Shawn.

Do you like the picture I drew on the front of this? I hope so; I worked really hard on it. It's that first picture of you, me and my mom.

Do you know where that picture is now? I put it in the time capsule that Riley, Lucas, Farkle and I buried. I didn't let anyone else see it. Why? Because it was something I desperately wanted to come true and back then my motto was "Hope is for suckers".

That's not what I believe anymore. I believe in hope. I believe in hope because of you.

I didn't at first. Oh I liked you a lot and thought we had a lot in common. We played around and you even took me and Riley and the Matthews on that trip. It was fun but I didn't dare think of it ever going any further than that. Even when I asked you to "be around" and you said you would I just figured something would happen to make you leave.

It was, of course, that day in Topanga's when you made me cry that really changed everything. You couldn't believe it at first; heck you couldn't understand it at first. You thought you made me cry because you upset me. As you know now it was because I felt like no one had ever done anything like that for me before. No one had cared enough.

I'm glad that you set me straight on that later on. Momma does so much, works so hard and yet I was taking her for granted. Okay there were times when we weren't getting along that well but that didn't mean she didn't deserve my thanks and consideration. It was like you said to her. "Do you think you might be mad at someone who isn't me? I was. I was mad at my... at Kermit, not mom. I had to see that for myself. You helped. Then there was my birthday night at the Matthews when you brought Momma from work and laid out what had really happened. I couldn't help it. When the cake came out and I made my wish, well, by now you know what that wish was.

You took me clothes shopping at Demolition and it was incredible. Riley told me it was time for a complete change and I agreed. I wanted to find something that I was sure you would like and I would too. When I found that black dress and boots I knew it was perfect. I could hardly wait to show you.

I remember hearing Mister Matthews teasing you just before Riley did her grand introduction and my heart leaped at the last word of his comment.

"It's not going to change you at all when she steps out from behind that curtain with a look on her face that says 'Do you think this makes me look beautiful Dad?'."

Everyone has talked about the look on my face when I came out from the dressing room and I bet it said exactly what Mister Matthews predicted it would. But what I was watching was your face. And it said so much. You were happy, excited and thrilled and it was for me and because of me. And you told me to go back and find more because you wanted me to come out with that look on my face again. I really knew how much you cared.

I have always teased Riley about how positive she is and how excited she gets about things. I tell her not to and then I have to tell her to let it out. And then when we were all back at Demolition and Momma asked you for a date. For a moment I was scared when you didn't answer right away, although now I know why. But where the old Maya would have lost hope the new improved me didn't. Then I exploded just like Riley when you asked me if it would be all right. That was so important. It meant that we were already a threesome.

Of course that explosion was nothing compared to the one I didn't even try to suppress when you came to me asked that other question. I think I started screaming "Yes, yes, yes, yes" even before you finished. It's a darn good thing that you WERE asking me if it would be okay with me if you proposed to Momma.

I mentioned how wonderful Mister and Mrs. Matthews have been ever since I have known them but now I have an even bigger reason to be grateful to Mrs. Matthews. Not only is she a fierce Amazon warrior like she claimed we both were but she is a bulldog attorney who doesn't take no for an answer and holds on until she gets what she believes her client deserves.

So because that's how she is and what she's done I can now say legally what's been in my heart for a long time.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

With love,

Your daughter, Maya Hunter.

PS. Dad, your mumbling about him "cradle robbing" and such isn't going to change anything. He still hasn't accepted it but one day I AM going to marry Josh Matthews.

(The End)


End file.
